Mistaken Identity
by pingo1387
Summary: Nami's mysterious disappearance one night leads to a surprising discovery and a new adventure for the Strawhat crew. 1
1. Two Strange Men! Nami Goes Missing?

**Takes place between Loguetown and entering the Grand Line**

* * *

"Have you found her?" whispered the tall man to the short man.

"Not yet," the short man whispered back, his eyes shut tight. "Wait . . . I see a new ship . . . I'll try to see inside it . . ."

"Hurry it up, will you?" the tall man said.

"Oh, be quiet," the short man snapped. "Let's see . . . I see four men in hammocks . . ."

"And clearly one of _them_ is the princess," the tall man said irritably. "Only report relevant things, you idiot!"

"Hush!" the short man said snippily. "I haven't fully examined the ship—oh!"

"Do you see her?" whispered the tall man eagerly.

"There's a young woman on a bed in another room," reported the short man. "A short-haired redhead!"

He opened his eyes, blinked a few times, and grabbed a photograph lying face-down next to him and his companion. He examined the photograph and grinned. "It has to be her! We found her, after so many years! The king and queen will be so pleased!"

"We must go tonight!" exclaimed the tall man in a loud whisper. "How close is this ship?"

The short man shut his eyes again and concentrated. "It appears to be . . . perhaps 30 or 40 kilometers away!"

"Let's hurry," whispered the tall man. "If we head out now, we can be back before dawn!"

"Perhaps the king and queen will give us a raise at last?"

"Perhaps!"

* * *

The daybreak following this mysterious conversation, Sanji was finishing breakfast for everyone on the Going Merry.

"And _voila_," he muttered to himself, sprinkling salt over the omelets. He stuck his head out the door and yelled "Nami-_swan_! Breakfast is ready! Hey, morons, that goes for you too!"

The men entered the kitchen almost immediately, Luffy naturally being the first. They sat down and waited impatiently for the meal.

"Y'know," Usopp said, "I was thinking, maybe we should start having a lookout at night. What if someone were to attack?"

"Good idea," Zoro said. "You can be the first."

"W-What!? But what if I get attacked!?"

"Then we will have suffered a great loss," Sanji said dramatically.

"Saaaanji!" Luffy whined. "We're hungry!"

"I refuse to serve the food until Nami-_swan_ shows up!" Sanji protested. "Where _is_ she? You don't think something happened to her, do you?"

"Oh, I'm sure she's fine," Usopp said. "Maybe she didn't hear you. I'll go get her . . ."

He rose and left the kitchen, heading for Nami's room below. A couple minutes later he returned, looking worried. "Um . . . she's not in her room, guys."

"What!?" Sanji yelled.

"Did you check anywhere else on the ship?" Zoro asked.

"Well—no, but—"

"Let's go!" Luffy yelled. "Search the ship for Nami! And then we can have breakfast!"

"Nami-_swaaaaan_!" Sanji yelled like a war cry.

* * *

"Well, after about thirty minutes of searching every nook and cranny on this ship," Zoro said, "I think we can safely say that she's _not_ here."

Sanji began crying. "Nami-_swan_ . . . where could you be, my darling?"

"Maybe . . . she decided to go back to her hometown after all?" Luffy suggested quietly.

Zoro and Sanji seemed to consider this, but Usopp shook his head.

"No," he said. "Both rowboats are still here. She didn't leave on her own."

"So she was kidnapped, maybe?" Zoro said with a shrug.

"If she was kidnapped," Sanji snarled with a fiery look in his visible eye, "I swear that I will not rest until I hunt down the villain who took her and beat the crap out of him!"

"This is exactly why we need a lookout!" Usopp exclaimed. "If someone had been standing watch last night, this wouldn't have happened!"

"Yeah, _Usopp_," Zoro said, "why weren't you standing watch? You could have prevented this."

"H-Hey! I only meant—"

"_Usopp, you damn bastard_ . . ." Sanji growled, glaring at Usopp murderously.

"Oh, come on!" Usopp yelled. "It's not my fault! Every one of you was asleep too!"

Sanji dissolved into tears again. "You're right . . . if only I had been more of a man; I could have prevented this . . . Nami-_swaaaaan_ . . ."

"We just have to go rescue her, right?" Luffy said. "If she was kidnapped, we just have to find the guy who did it and beat him up."

The others stared at him.

"Uh . . ." Zoro said. "Yeah, I guess."

"A stopped clock _is_ right twice a day," Usopp muttered.

"Okay!" Luffy said cheerfully. "So we just have to go to the nearest island and ask if they've seen her!"

"Yeah!" Usopp said. "To the nearest island we go!"

"To the nearest island," Zoro echoed.

. . .

". . . Um," Usopp said, "does anyone here know how to navigate properly?"

Luffy and Zoro shook their heads.

"Nami-_swaaaan_ . . ." Sanji wailed again, burying his face in his hands.


	2. Find Nami! Who Is This Princess?

**I'm back, after one week! By the way, that's how often I'll try to update this - every Sunday.**

* * *

"How do we even read this thing?"

The four men of the Strawhat pirates were clustered around a flat map of the globe in Nami's room (Sanji had allowed everyone to enter due to the emergency situation).

"I mean," Zoro continued, "we don't even know where the hell we are. How are we supposed to find where to go next?"

"We can narrow down where we are," Sanji pointed out. "First off, we're obviously not on the Red Line or the Grand Line; we're not in the North Blue, South Blue, or West Blue—"

"We _know_ we're in the East Blue," Luffy complained.

"Okay, _fine_," Sanji snapped. "I was going to say that we know we're in the area of Loguetown, the Calm Belt, and the Grand Line entrance. So . . ." he circled an area with his finger. "We're somewhere in this place."

"Great, we narrowed it down to less than a quarter of this world," Usopp muttered. "We're making _such_ progress here."

"Will you shut up?" Sanji said irritably. "We need to figure out what island my Nami-_swan_ could possibly be being held at! I bet she's locked up in some dungeon . . . shackled to a wall . . . b-being . . . tortured . . ." he started crying again. "Nami-_swan_!"

"Okay, he's useless now," Zoro said. "Back to the map . . . we know about where we are, but we don't really know which direction we're going in . . . shit, this isn't good at all."

"We could tell by the sun," Usopp suggested.

"Oh, yeah!" Luffy said. "It sets in the east, right?"

"West," Usopp said. "It sets in the west."

"It does not," Luffy protested.

"Yes, it does! Look, here's an easy way to remember it. You know how yeast—"

"I thought the sun set in the south," Zoro said, confused.

"Excuse me?" Sanji said, rejoining the conversation at last. "The sun sets in the north, doesn't it?"

"I'm telling you, it sets in the west!" Usopp protested.

"East!" Luffy said decidedly. "I'm the captain, and I say that the sun sets in the east!"

"Luffy, you can't control the sun," Zoro pointed out. "Anyway, it sets in the south."

"It sets in the _north_, morons!" Sanji said angrily. "Where the hell did you get the idea that it sets in the west or south?"

"Have any of you actually paid any attention _at all_ to the sun!?" Usopp said exasperatedly.

"Sure I have!" Luffy said. "It sets in the east!"

"North!"

"South!"

"It sets in the west, dammit!"

"Usopp," Sanji said, "you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Perhaps you have amnesia about your childhood teachings?"

"I don't have amnesia about anything!" Usopp snapped. "I'm the great Captain Usopp! I don't _get_ amnesia!"

"Well, you could hardly help it if you _did_ get amnesia, isn't that right!?"

"I bet I could!"

"Bet you couldn't!"

"Bet I could!"

"Couldn't!"

"Could!"

"No, you damn couldn't!"

"I'll make you a bet!" Usopp declared. "I bet that I _won't_ get amnesia within the next . . . three years!"

"200 beris sound good!?"

"Deal!"

They glared at each other for a moment more.

"We haven't had breakfast yet," Zoro pointed out. "I'm pretty damn hungry."

"Hey, so am I!" Luffy said, sounding surprised. "Sanji, give us breakfast!"

"Oh, fine," Sanji said. "But it's right down to business after that."

* * *

"See?" Usopp said, holding a compass and standing outside. "I _told _you it sets in the west."

"Fine, you were right," Zoro snapped. "So we're facing north."

"It's good to know, right?" Luffy asked. "We don't wanna accidentally go into the Grand Line the wrong way."

"That's _not_ the point, but sure," Sanji said. "Let's head back to the map . . ."

After heading back downstairs and studying the map a while longer, they concluded that there was only one island where the kidnappers could have come and gone in one night: Kopenchagi Island.

"It's really close," Sanji said. "It shouldn't take too long to get there."

"So let's go!" Luffy said cheerfully. "We can row there!"

After much arguing and fighting, Luffy and Zoro took one row while Usopp and Sanji took the other. They began rowing towards their destination, Usopp checking the compass every two minutes to make sure that they were still on target.

Soon enough, they reached the port of an island. After dropping the anchor, they rolled up the sail, jumped onto the dock, and looked around.

"Hey, sir," Zoro said, stopping someone who looked like a guard, "mind telling us where we are?"

"Did you just dock your ship there?" the guard asked, ignoring his question.

"Uh, yeah. So where—"

"You realize," he (the guard) said, "that docking at that particular port is strictly forbidden except for cargo ships. Is that a cargo ship?"

"No, but—"

"I'm going to have to fine you 1000 beris, then," the guard said, taking out a pad of paper. "Each. So . . . let's see . . . 4000 beris total."

"We'd like to pay, sir, but we don't have any money!" Usopp said, the first part being a lie and the second part being the truth.

"I guess I have to just arrest you then, huh?" the guard sneered. Before anyone knew what was happening, they were surrounded by other guards and handcuffed.

"You can either go straight to jail," the first guard said as he led the captive pirates down the street, "or you can plead your case to the princess—who, as it happens, has just returned after many years."

"A princess?" Sanji asked hopefully.

"We'll go to the princess," Luffy said. "I bet she'll let us go. If she doesn't, I'll just beat you guys up."

"This is actually good," Usopp whispered to the others. "If we can talk to this princess, we can ask for her help in finding Nami."

"Excellent!" Sanji whispered happily. "Oh my Nami-_swan_, you will be freed from your prison soon!"

The tied up Strawhats and the guards reached the palace soon, which was in the center of the city. The first guard knocked on the door and a female voice inside said "Come in!"

The huge double doors swung open, pulled by guards on the other side.

"Bow your heads," hissed one of the guards with the Strawhats. "Be respectful to the princess!"

The four obediently bowed their heads, playing along in hopes that it would help their case. Usopp had to force Luffy's head down and Sanji was muttering a string of curses under his breath.

They were led to the foot of a dais, where they were told to kneel in respect. The guards stepped back and all was silent.

Finally, the same female voice said "You may lift your heads."

The four Strawhat men looked up towards the princess. Usopp gasped dramatically, Luffy grinned widely, Sanji cried out with joy, and Zoro smirked in a pleased way.

The princess was wearing a lovely pale blue dress that flowed down to her ankles and hung off her wrists. Encircling her short orange hair was a thin silver diadem. Her face, decorated with makeup, was heart-shaped, and her eyes were a lovely shade of brown.

"Nami-_swan_!" Sanji exclaimed. "Oh my darling, how I have longed to see your beauty again!"

"What're you doing here, Nami?" Luffy asked happily. "We were worried!"

"Let's go back to the ship already," Zoro said. "C'mon."

"Nami?" Usopp asked.

"Silence!" said the princess suddenly and commandingly. She rose from her seat and spoke in whispers with a tall man on her right. After this whispered conversation, she turned back to the Strawhats and declared "Take them to the dungeons!"

"What!?" Luffy yelled. "Nami, it's us!"

"What the hell!?" Zoro yelled.

They were gagged by guards and dragged roughly down to the dungeons, where they were thrown into a jail cell and their gags were removed.

"You can stay down here," said the guard roughly, "until the princess decides what to do with you."

And he left the room without another word.

"Oh, come on!" Usopp complained. "Why did Nami do that?"

"Maybe _she_ has amnesia," Zoro said.

Luffy shrugged. "I don't think she does."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Just because."

They sat in silence for around ten minutes. Just as Usopp opened his mouth, they heard a door open and footsteps approaching. The princess and the tall man appeared outside their cell. The door was open and the princess stepped in with the tall man.

"Leave us," she said to the tall man. "I will make sure that they won't hurt me. Return to your post."

The tall man bowed and left, closing the cell door behind him. The princess waited until she heard the door shut behind him before quietly sitting down on a bench.

She looked up at the four Strawhats and a smile spread across her face. "Guys," she said happily, "I'm so glad you're here!"


	3. Nami Explains! A Favor Is Asked!

"Nami, it _is_ you!" Luffy yelled.

"Nami-_swan_!" Sanji exclaimed.

"To be honest, I'm surprised," Nami said, brushing back a lock of hair. "I didn't think you all would make it here so soon!"

"Well, it was a long and difficult journey," Usopp said, "but with the help of the great Captain Usopp, we managed to find you. I remember the Sea Kings—"

"What're you doing here?" Luffy interrupted. "Why do these guys think you're a princess?"

"You have a _lot_ of explaining to do," Zoro muttered.

"I know, I know," Nami sighed. "It's a long story. You know, if we had a lookout or something, this probably wouldn't have happened."

"That part is Usopp's fault," Sanji said. ("Hey!") "Carry on, Nami-_swan_! How did you come to be in this position?"

"Well . . ."

* * *

The tall man and the short man reached the ship at last in their tiny rowboat. The tall man brought forth rope from underneath his cloak, tied a lasso, and threw it up the side of the ship, successfully hooking the end of the railing.

He and the short man climbed the rope and quietly set foot on the deck. The short man pointed to a door just ahead of them around the main mast. The tall man nodded and both strode towards it. The short man opened the door very quietly and closed it after the tall man stepped in.

They looked around. By the dim light coming from the door cracks, they could see that the room was some kind of storage area. The tall man hit the short man on the head. The short man rubbed his head and indignantly pointed towards a trapdoor on the floor. The tall man nodded and quietly opened it up. The short man descended first and the tall man came soon after, leaving the trapdoor open for an easy exit.

The tall man pointed towards the bed questioningly. The short man nodded. The tall man swiftly approached the bed and scooped up Nami, who had been lying on it. He carried her bridal-style up the stairs and through the trapdoor, the short man close behind.

As he passed through the trapdoor, the tall man accidentally bumped Nami's legs on the edge. She stirred awake and looked around.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "What the hell is going on!?"

"Forgive us, my lady," whispered the short man, taking out a small bottle and a handkerchief. He doused the handkerchief in the liquid from the bottle and pressed it to Nami's nose. She struggled, but couldn't help breathing in the fumes; her eyes closed and she went limp. The short man stowed the bottle and cloth back inside his cloak.

The short man carefully descended the rope; the tall man lowered the sleeping Nami and the short man positioned her within the rowboat in the most comfortable position possible. The tall man slid down the rope, unhooked it from the railing, seized the oars, and began rowing.

Once they were a good distance away from the ship, the short man spoke. "That was much easier than expected, don't you think?"

"Mm," muttered the tall man. "I hope the princess is okay. It didn't seem like she was being tortured, at any rate . . ."

"If we find out that those men were harming her," the short man said, "we can always find them again and have them killed."

"Yes, that's true," the tall man said. "Do me a favor and shut up now; your voice is annoying when I'm trying to row."

The short man stared at him. Then he opened his mouth and began singing at the top of his lungs. "_GATHER UP ALL OF THE CREW~, TIME TO SHIP OUT B—_"

"HEY!" the tall man yelled. "Shut up, you idiot, you'll wake the princess!"

The short man sighed. "And you say _my_ voice is annoying."

"You've got something on your nose," the tall man said.

"What—really?"

"Yeah, right there."

"I got it," the short man muttered, taking out his handkerchief. He rubbed his nose with it and managed to say "Oh, damn," before falling unconscious.

"Huh, it worked," the tall man muttered, grinning. "Idiot."

When Nami finally opened her eyes, the sunlight could barely be seen over the horizon. She shrieked when she realized that the tall man and the short man were standing over her, staring.

"Oh, good," the short man said. "You're awake!"

"What—" she said, looking around. She was lying on a small, old bed, which was in a fairly small and dimly lit room. An identical bed was on the opposite side.

"What the _hell_ is going on!?" she yelled angrily, glaring at the two. "Did you two kidnap me!? Oh, when Luffy gets here, he's gonna kick your—"

"Please, your highness, calm down!" the tall man beseeched. "We have liberated you from your captors and brought you home!"

"Captors?" she said, confused. "Your highness? What the hell are you talking about?"

"My lady," the short man said, "allow me to refresh your memory. When you were merely nine years old, you were playing with your friends in the street (as allowed by the king and queen) when a group of brutish thugs kidnapped you and took you away from the island!"

"You must have gotten me confused with someone else," Nami said exasperatedly. "I haven't been kidnapped by anybody except you two, and I am _certainly_ not a _princess_!"

"Oh, my lady," said the tall man concernedly, "I believe that you must have amnesia!"

The short man brought out a photograph. "Does this seem familiar?"

Nami grabbed the picture and studied it. It showed a young girl of perhaps six or seven years, wearing a pink dress and smiling happily into the camera. Her hair hung down to her shoulders and was almost the exact shade that Nami's was.

"Sure, she looks like me," Nami snapped, throwing the photograph back, "but that proves nothing! Lots of people look alike!"

"Princess Erika, please cooperate!" the tall man pleaded. "I know those ten years must have been hard for you, but your troubles are over!"

"My _name_ is _Nami_!" she yelled.

"Please, your highness, you must come to see the king and queen," the tall man said, offering her his hand. "They have fallen very ill and are desperate to see their daughter again."

Nami hesitated.

"Oh, fine," she snapped finally. She slapped his hand away and got up herself. "Where the hell is this, anyway?"

"We're in the palace, of course," the short man said. "This is mine and his room."

They opened the door and allowed Nami to step through first. The hallway outside was rather stunning, draped in red and gold tapestries and with several lit torches lining the walls.

"The king and queen are down this way," the tall man said, taking the lead with the short man next to him. "They are resting at the moment. Say, princess, do you remember us at all?"

Nami growled.

"Very well," the tall man said quickly. "My name is John."

"And I am Larry," said the short man.

"Nice to meet you, and all that," Nami said. "_My_ name is Nami."

John and Larry looked at each other and sighed.

The three eventually reached large and ornate double doors. Larry raised a fist and knocked three times. A weak voice inside said "Come in."

They entered to a large and heavily decorated room. Against the far wall was a huge bed upon which rested two people—a middle-aged man and woman.

John, Larry, and Nami approached the bed. John and Larry knelt respectfully by the side.

"Your majesties," John said. "King Hiram and Queen Pamela, we have wonderful news."

"We have found the princess," Larry continued. "Your daughter has been found! Princess Erika, please step forward!"

Nami sighed and moved closer. The king and queen looked at her.

"Um . . . hi," she muttered.

"Is it really you?" Queen Pamela whispered. "Oh, my sweet baby girl . . ."

"You've come home," King Hiram said softly, staring at her. "You're back."

Nami hesitated, and then smiled. "That's right, I'm back. I'm sorry I was away for so long."

The queen started crying. "Oh, Erika . . ."

"Your majesties, if you please," Larry said, "we shall instruct the princess in proper monarch rule for the time being. She shall take power until you are fit to rule once more."

"Please," the king said, nodding slightly with a faint smile. John and Larry nodded and stood.

"Come now, Princess Erika," John said. "We must begin."

The three left the room, leaving the monarchs to rest.

"I promise that this will not take long," Larry promised Nami as they walked down the hallway. "We simply need to give you the run-down with being the ruler of a kingdom, and of course—" he looked her up and down. "—Give you some . . . finer things to wear."

"Okay, stop right there," Nami said, halting her movement. "First off, my clothes are _fine_; they're some of the latest stuff from Loguetown, for your information. Second, I am _not_ this Princess Erika you're talking about."

Larry and John looked at each other. "My lady . . . you're absolutely sure?" John said sadly.

Nami nodded. "However . . ."

"However?" Larry asked eagerly.

"_However_, you guys seem to be in a bit of a crisis here, with no monarchy to rule the kingdom. Is that right?"

They nodded.

"Now, those guys that were with me on the ship?" Nami said. "Knowing them, they'll get here eventually. So the deal is this: I'll take this position as _Princess Erika_ until they show up. When they do, I'm taking off with them and leaving the crown behind. Also, you have to pay me 1,000,000 beris."

"Of course, of course!" exclaimed John happily. "Oh, my princess, thank you!"

"Do _not_ call me princess," Nami snapped. "Now, you were saying something about finer things to wear?"

* * *

". . . so they gave me a quick tutorial in being a princess, forced me to wear this stupid dress and tiara and makeup, and here we are," Nami finished.

"Nami-_swan_, you look absolutely _stunning_ in that dress!" Sanji cried, his visible eye becoming a heart.

"It's not my style or color," Nami complained.

"Well, I've got a question," Zoro said. "Why the hell did you throw us down here?"

"So that we could talk privately," Nami said. "It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Plus, this way you guys can't destroy anything big."

"What makes you think we'd destroy something?" Luffy asked, frowning.

". . . I'm just going to ignore that one," Nami muttered. "Look, here's the thing, guys . . . those two, Larry and John? I don't trust them. I'm not sure that they'd let me go with you even though you're here now, and I'll probably end up just stealing the money from them."

"You're cold!" Usopp exclaimed.

"So I have a favor to ask all of you," Nami continued. "I need you guys to go out and find the real princess!"


	4. A Deal Is Made! Setting Sail!

**Yo~! I'm sorry this is a couple days late; I was really busy Sunday and Monday.**

* * *

"Okay," Luffy said without hesitation.

"Don't just say 'okay'!" Usopp protested. "Nami, what do you mean?"

"What do you _think_ I mean?" she said exasperatedly. "If the real Princess Erika is out there and still alive, you guys can find her, bring her back here, and then we can go!"

"Great, where is she then?" Zoro asked.

"Well, that's up to you guys to find out, right?" Nami said.

"I'll do _anything_ to get you back, Nami-_swan_~!" Sanji cried.

"B-But she might not even be in the East Blue!" Usopp said. "She could be in any one of the Blues, or even on the G-Grand Line—"

"Then that's your problem, isn't it?" Nami said, smirking.

"I like this side of Nami-_swan_ too," Sanji crooned.

"Shut it for a minute," Zoro muttered to Sanji. "Luffy, what do you think?"

"I already said we'll go," Luffy said. "But . . . only if she's not in the Grand Line. I don't wanna go there without Nami."

"Thanks," Nami said, relieved.

"I still don't like this, but since no one can stop Luffy . . . I've got a question," Usopp said.

"Spit it out," Zoro said.

"How are we going to get anywhere without our navigator?"

There was a moment of silence.

"You guys handled it fine without me this morning, right?" Nami asked, frowning.

"Uh . . ." Zoro said.

"Sort of . . ." Sanji said, looking away.

"It is a problem, but I can give you guys some basic tips," Nami offered. "The East Blue is normally a pretty easy sea to sail on, unlike the Grand Line—or so I've heard. Does anyone have some paper and a pencil?"

Usopp handed over the two things to her. She knelt on the ground and poised the pencil over the paper; the others crowded around her.

"First off," she said, writing as she spoke, "The sun sets in the west—"

"We know," the other four said together.

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Um, okay. Next, here are some diagrams for controlling the sails, just in case . . . Sanji-_kun_, Usopp; I'll leave this part up to you two."

"You can count on the great Captain Usopp!" Usopp exclaimed. "I shall direct Merry to the best of my ability—which, of course, is the highest possible ability in the world!"

"You can count on me too, Nami-_swan_~!" Sanji cried.

"Why do _they_ get to control the sails?" Luffy complained.

Nami shoved the diagrams at him. "Do you understand these?"

Luffy studied them for perhaps half a second. "Nope," he declared proudly.

"Exactly."

She eventually finished giving them tips; giving the paper back to Usopp, who stored it in his shoulder bag, she stood and said "I'll go tell those two what's happening. You four come along."

Nami pushed open the cell door and strode out, the others following.

"Nami-_swan_," Sanji said as they walked, "Do I have your divine permission to call you Princess Nami~?"

"Never call me that again," she growled.

* * *

Back in the throne room, the men of the Strawhat crew stood respectfully by while Nami explained the idea to Larry and John.

"So you see," she finished, "this would be in the best interest of everyone. I get to leave with my crew and you get your princess back. Do we have a deal, gentlemen?"

The two looked at each other—Larry looked up while John looked down.

"Very well," said John at last. "We have a deal, Princess Erika—er, Princess Nami."

Nami growled at him. "Do not _call_ me that . . ."

"Thanks, you two," Sanji said. "Do you have any clues for us to start with? Any place we can start looking?"

"I have a picture of the princess," Larry offered. He withdrew said photograph from his cloak and handed it to the Strawhats. They passed it around and studied it.

Zoro whistled. "She really does look like you, Nami."

"Shut it," Nami snarled.

"Okay, orange hair, brown eyes . . ." Usopp muttered to himself. "And her name is Erica?"

"No, _Erika_," John corrected, "with a 'k'."

"Oh, okay," Usopp said, nodding. Then he frowned. "Wait—"

"So where is she?" Luffy asked.

"All we know is that she was kidnapped ten years ago," Larry said sadly. "Oh, my poor princess, how you must be suffering . . ." he began wailing.

John smacked him. "Get a grip. Yes, she was kidnapped by some thugs when she was nine."

"How many were there?" Zoro asked.

"Only one, of course," John said in surprise.

It was Larry's turn to smack his partner. "Not the princess, idiot! I think there were maybe five or seven bandits. They sailed in the direction of the rising sun . . . well, that's all we know. We naturally attempted to give chase, but with the time it took to assemble a crew, they were long gone."

"Hang on," Nami said, frowning. "I just thought of something—how _did_ you two find out where I was? That's a bit creepy, if you ask me."

Larry grinned. "Your highness, I happen to possess the power of a Devil Fruit; the See-See Fruit, which allows me to see anything happening within a 50-kilometer radius. Of course, I can only see; I cannot hear, smell, or feel . . . I ate this fruit only a year ago, which is why I have not used it earlier to find the princess."

"So in other words, she's over fifty kilometers away from here?" Zoro asked.

Larry nodded.

"T-That seems really far," Usopp whimpered. "Are we really gonna be okay?"

"Adventure!" Luffy yelled happily. "Let's get going, guys! You wait for us, Nami!"

Nami grinned. "Don't take too long."

Larry and John led the Strawhats out of the palace and to the docks. Merry had thankfully not been seized yet, so the pirates were allowed to climb aboard and set sail.

"To the princess!" Luffy declared, pointing in the direction they were headed.

"To the princess!" The others echoed.

. . .

"So which way do we go?" Usopp asked.

"They said that the thugs went to the east, right?" Sanji said. "We'll start there."

Luffy looked up at the sun and then pointed towards the east. "To the princess! Oh, Sanji, I'm hungry. Can we have lunch?"

"Fine," Sanji said. "It's about time for lunch, anyway."

"I want meat!"

"I want fish!"

"I'll have booze."

"What about to eat?"

"Nothing to eat, just booze."

"You can't have just booze for lunch . . ."

* * *

**We'll be checking in on Nami every third chapter or so.**


	5. Land! Where is the Trader?

**Yo~! I apologize for not updating the last two weeks! My reason for this is that I had another story that required being updated both Sundays and I was finishing up another story. **

**Speaking of schedules, this story will now be updated on Saturdays. For more information, please look at the second-to-last entry of my profile.**

* * *

A day had passed and not a single island had come into view. Luffy had stopped pointing towards whichever direction they were headed in and shouting "To the princess!", Usopp and Sanji had been nervously checking the diagrams and adjusting the sails every hour or so, and Zoro had mostly been drinking and lifting ridiculous amounts of weight.

Finally, Usopp lazily looked towards the horizon and spotted an island a ways off. He jumped, turned around, and yelled "Land ho!"

The others came running out. Luffy saw the island and said "Hey, I'm the captain! I get to say land ho!"

"So say it," Zoro muttered.

Luffy grinned and pointed towards the island. "Land ho!"

Usopp and Sanji were already adjusting the sails. Luffy jumped up onto the figurehead and started bouncing up and down in anticipation. Zoro leaned against the railing and pretended not to be interested.

Within the next hour, they had docked at the island. On the surface, it seemed to be normal—a quiet town, peaceful villagers, and nothing strange or upsetting happening.

The Strawhats dropped the anchor, furled the sails, and got off the ship—Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji jumped off, while Usopp unrolled the ladder and climbed down.

"Maybe we should have someone stay and guard the ship," Usopp said as they stood on the dock. "I mean . . . just to be on the safe side?"

"Great, you stay then," Sanji said.

"No!" Usopp protested. "I was thinking more like you or Zoro!"

"So you want one of us to stay on the ship," Zoro said, "and you to have one less bodyguard?"

". . . You . . . make a good point," Usopp muttered.

"I'm sure it'll be fine anyway," Sanji said with a shrug. "Merry's kind of a small ship; I doubt people would think there's anything worth stealing aboard."

"Hey! Don't insult Merry!" Usopp snapped.

"He wasn't being insulting, he was stating a fact," Zoro pointed out.

Sanji grabbed the back of Luffy's shirt just as the latter was trying to run off. "And where do you think _you're_ going?"

Luffy looked back, annoyed. "I'm gonna go find the princess."

"Not without us, you're not."

"Why?"

"For one thing," Sanji said, "I have the picture. For another, you'll get lost if you go off by yourself."

Luffy muttered something, but stayed behind with the others.

Their first stop was a seedy-looking bar. When they walked in, not many inside glanced up. Almost everyone looked rather shady and suspicious. They approached the barman, a large bald man with an eye patch over his right eye cleaning out a glass with a filthy rag. He looked at them and muttered "You want somethin', kids?"

"If you don't mind us asking," Sanji said politely, "how long have you been working here?"

The barman shrugged. "Dunno. Fifteen, twenty years . . . lost track a while ago. What's it t'you?"

Sanji displayed the picture of the young princess. "Did this girl ever pass through her? It would've been about ten years ago, and she was probably with some folks like the kind around here." He glanced about the bar.

The barman barely gave the picture a glance. "How the hell should I know?" he growled. "I don't make it a habit to remember every face that comes through, unlike the _Trader_ a couple blocks over."

"Trader?" Sanji said interestedly. "Could you point us in the direction of this trader?"

The barman didn't answer Sanji right away. Instead, he looked closely at Luffy. "I don't remember many people, but you look familiar, lad. You famous or somethin'?"

Luffy grinned. "Yeah, I'm famous! I just got a bou—"

Usopp slapped a hand over his mouth and hissed "Luffy, shut up! Don't go around telling people you have a bounty!"

"Luffy?" The barman said loudly. "As in Monkey D. Luffy?"

The bar grew quiet and everyone turned to stare at the man in the straw hat.

"This isn't good," Usopp whimpered.

"Monkey D. Luffy!?" Someone yelled, standing up. "You goddamn _bastard_! I was the record-holder for highest bounty in the East Blue before _you_ came along! Had a good solid 21 mil! But then _you_ come out of nowhere with a _30 mil_ bounty and no one knows who I am anymore!"

Luffy frowned. "What? I don't care about that. It isn't my fault anyway."

The angry man threw a dagger at him. Luffy ducked and it hit the mirror behind the barman.

"Hey now, calm down!" the barman yelled. "You start anythin', I'm gonna chuck your ass outta here myself, ya dig!?"

"You don't look like much," sniggered another man, standing and flipping a pistol around in his hand so that it pointed towards Luffy. "I may be a criminal, but I ain't well known 'round these parts. I could turn you in to the Marines and no one there'd squabble."

Luffy laughed. This seemed to infuriate the two men even more and they started approaching; the first one had produced two more daggers and the second was loading his pistol.

"Luffy, you wanna take these guys?" Zoro muttered, clearing his swords.

Luffy shook his head. "I'm good. I just wanna get Nami back, so let's go."

"You guys go on, then," Sanji said. "I'll stay and take them out."

"Make that two of us," Zoro said. "I'd like to get some exercise."

The barman had decided to hide underneath the counter.

Luffy shrugged. "Okay, go ahead. Usopp and I'll wait outside."

Usopp didn't protest, so the two headed outside. For the next minute, crashes, slashing, and bangs could be heard from inside the bar. Sanji and Zoro eventually walked out without a scratch on them.

"Done," Zoro said. "Those guys were wimps."

"Of course," Usopp said, "you were only able to defeat them because I, the great Captain Usopp, was sending you mental waves of encouragement! How did I accomplish this, you ask? It is no easy feat! To do such a thing takes years of training . . . it begins by hiking up a mountain, oh, but not just any mountain! The mountain you choose must be—"

"He said that the trader was a couple blocks away, right?" Sanji said. "Hey!" he said, stopping a passerby. "Could you tell us which way to go to see the trader?"

The person made a face as if disgusted. "What kind of people _are_ you?" he snapped. "Wanting to see the _Trader_ . . . honestly, that man is the lowest of the low, I swear, I mean besides the people who do business with him—"

"We _asked_ you which way to go," Zoro growled, seizing the front of the man's shirt.

The man whimpered. "F-Fine, that way," he said, pointing down the street. "You there to _buy_ or _sell_?"

"Why do you care?" Usopp asked, a notably brave action for him.

The man looked away angrily. "This used to be a peaceful town before the Trader came along, more than ten years ago. Now he attracts all kinds of seedy folk . . ." He glared at the four. "Just wondering because if you were gonna _sell_, I wanted to say sorry to whichever one of you it is."

Zoro let him go and the man quickly went off, glancing over his shoulder at the pirates.

"That was weird," Sanji said at last.

"Well, we know where to go," Luffy said. "So let's go!"

He ran off before anyone could stop him.


End file.
